Portable electronic devices are commonly used for communication, entertainment, and/or information purposes. Portable electronic devices include devices such as smartphones, cellular phones, mobile communication devices, computers, portable computing devices, mobile computing devices, tablet computers, cameras, video players, audio players, electronic media readers, two-way radios, global positioning satellite (GPS) devices, and/or other types of electronic computing or communication devices, including combinations thereof. Recent advances in electronics and miniaturization have allowed some or all of the functions of these devices to be implemented in even smaller electronic devices that may be worn on a user's body. Wearable electronic devices may include watches, smartwatches, fitness monitors, activity monitors, biometric monitors, medical monitors, functional jewelry, and interactive implementations thereof.
In some situations, a wearable electronic device may be a standalone device, in the sense that it performs a variety of electronic functions without relying on any other devices. In other situations, a wearable electronic device may operate in conjunction with another electronic device that is carried by or near the user. In one specific example, a smartwatch (e.g. the APPLE®WATCH, PEBBLE®, SAMSUNG® GEAR, etc.) worn by a user provides a number of functions and may communicate with or through a smartphone that is separately carried by the user or is placed somewhere near the user. In this example, the smartwatch makes certain features or functions more readily available to a user without the user having to take the smartphone out of a pocket or bag and/or without having to activate the screen of the smartphone. However, in other situations, the smartwatch may operate as a standalone device without relying on a nearby smartphone. While many of the examples herein are described with respect to a smartwatch, the apparatuses and techniques disclosed herein are also applicable to other types of electronic devices including fitness monitors, activity monitors, biometric monitors, medical monitors, functional jewelry, and the like. While described as a “watch,” a smartwatch may provide many functions other than providing the time including, providing indications of received email messages or text messages, providing calendar information, providing appointment information or reminders, receiving inputs from the user, displaying weather information, capturing biometric information, and/or interactive implementations thereof.
As with other types of electronic devices, wearable electronic devices may be subject to damage from shock, vibration, impact, external forces, sharp objects, water, dirt, dust, snow, rain, sweat, chemicals, and/or other damaging elements. For example, wearable electronic devices may be used when exercising, in order to monitor biometric signals, and/or to provide sound to a user. In some situations, wearable electronic devices may be even more susceptible to some of these damaging forces or elements because they are worn on the body and/or because of where they are worn on the body. Damaging forces may cause the wearable electronic device to no longer be operable or may simply damage the physical appearance of the wearable electronic device. In some instances, wearable electronic devices may have bands, chains, and/or other attachment mechanisms that are removable or changeable such that a user may be able to change or add their own band, chain, and/or other attachment mechanism. Improved protection and/or more durable bands for these types of wearable electronic devices are needed.
Along with the need to protect such wearable electronic devices, there remains a need to access and activate a touch-sensitive display of the wearable electronic device while in use. For example, a user may wish to use a touch-sensitive display on the wearable electronic device without looking at it, in order to quickly activate functions such as starting/stopping a stopwatch or timer, starting/stopping recording of a running route, or starting/stopping/adjusting volume of audio coming from a connected portable electronic device (such as a smartphone) or from the wearable electronic device itself. The user may also wish to easily view the display of the device when the user is finished exercising.
Wearable electronic devices can also have a limited battery life, due in large part to the power consumption of the display used. High contrast, color LED displays can reduce battery life if they are turned on often or continuously, requiring charging or battery change more often. It is therefore desirable to further reduce the amount of power consumed by the display of a wearable electronic device by a user, thereby increasing its battery life.